Educational Technology

by I Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman, the Sloan Consortium

The 2010 Sloan Survey of Online Learning reveals that enrollment rose by almost one million students from a year earlier. The survey of more than 2,500 colleges and universities nationwide finds approximately 5.6 million students were enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2009, the most recent term for which figures are available. “This represents the largest ever year-to-year increase in the number of students studying online,” said study co-author I Elaine Allen, Co-Director of the Babson Survey Research Group and Professor of Statistics & Entrepreneurship at Babson College. “Nearly thirty percent of all college and university students now take at least one course online.”

PDF: http://sloanconsortium.org/sites/default/files/class_differences.pdf

http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/class_differences

by Kobus van Wyk, e4 Africa

Technology is of the greatest value to teachers when it is available in the classroom. Why do schools then have computer rooms (also called computer laboratories or computer suites)? Should we not dismantle them and distribute the technology to classrooms? Before you demolish your computer room, just pause for a moment. Computer rooms hold huge value, if used properly. Think about the following great things you can do there.

http://www.e4africa.co.za/?p=2896

By Lee Hughes, Centralia College

“The top 10 jobs of 2015 don’t exist today.” Sue Galloway, Dean of Library Services and eLearning at Centralia College told the audience, quoting the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. We live in an increasingly wired world of shifting boundaries, Galloway said at last Wednesday’s Lyceum lecture. “We are doing students a disservice if they leave here without some basic technical skills,” Galloway said. Many of those skills are being learned at Centralia College through radical changes in the way teaching and learning happens.

http://www.ccbluegold.com/mobile/education-in-the-digital-age-1.2390001

by Nikki Davidson, TV6 Michigan

Cameras, monitors, and projectors connect the class. Both the instructor and the school can see each other. It’s part of a pilot program called “SOAR,” and it’s a realization of Motions Fitness owner Mike Koskiniemi’s dream…a dream that took more than six years of working with cameras, the Internet, and ever-changing technology to make possible. The whole school gets a workout at the same time through a computer. The class is streamed live through the Internet. It’s the medium that has presented several challenges.

http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/news/story.aspx?list=~%5Chome%5Clists%5Csearch&id=534270

By John Keilman, TRIBUNE REPORTER

Technology is creating new opportunities for countless people with disabilities, and many of the latest gadgets were on display last week at a Schaumburg trade show. Some say these are mere forerunners of a larger revolution that is yet to come. They envision products designed so that anyone can use them, appliances that automatically detect a person’s needs and become more user-friendly, and a transformed Internet that welcomes the blind and developmentally disabled. “There are a lot of things people are exploring that can be game changers,” said Gregg Vanderheiden, a University of Wisconsin engineering professor who works on making technology accessible. Yet for all of technology’s promised advances, some worry that the cost will keep helpful devices out of many people’s reach. Others are concerned that governments, schools and institutions might think that high-tech gadgetry has relieved them of their responsibility to serve the disabled.

http://www.latimes.com/health/ct-met-disabled-tech-20101101,0,5650934.story

By Keith Uhlig, Wausau Daily Herald

When he was in elementary school, 17-year-old Ben Lemmer practiced his penmanship in class at least once a week. He’s a senior at D.C. Everest Senior High School now, and although he takes most of his class notes by hand, he figures he turns in one or two assignments a week that are handwritten. “Soon, cursive will only be used for your signature,” Lemmer said. “I think you only have to know how to sign your name, but after that, you don’t have to use cursive much.”

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20101101/WDH0101/11010378/Is-handwriting-becoming-a-lost-art–

By Megan Sprague, Mooresville Tribune

Technology is changing the way bullies communicate with their victims, and actions that were once face-to-face are turning to Facebook. With more teens able to connect to the Internet on a regular basis and possessing personal cell phones, local schools say they have seen cyberbullying touch their classrooms. “It comes and goes, but we have had reports of bullying on Facebook and via text message,” said Paul Veach, Student Assistant Program Coordinator with Lake Norman High School. “Bullying on Facebook has become more popular.”

http://www2.mooresvilletribune.com/news/2010/nov/01/when-bullying-turns-cyberspace-ar-500641/

By DENNIS TAYLOR, Monterey Herald

Disabilities are a reality for many students at local colleges and universities, but cutting-edge technology, modern teaching methods and specialized services can make education less of an obstacle at CSU Monterey Bay, Monterey Peninsula College and Hartnell College.  Students at the schools are graduating despite speech and language impairments, hearing and sight disabilities, psychological issues and virtually any other problem that can hinder the learning process. “We work almost exclusively with adults. I think our oldest student, many years ago, was 91,” said Terria Odom-Wolfer, faculty coordinator and instructor in MPC’s Department of Supportive Services and Instruction, which serves people with physical therapy and rehabilitation needs, heart problems, and students with issues such as blindness, hearing loss and learning disabilities.

http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_16466161?nclick_check=1

by Lee Matthews, Manawatu Standard

Mairi Borthwick is Freyberg’s head of physics, and introduced robotics to her school when she saw how much fun it was. She still can’t quite believe how sneakily it sandwiches in serious learning. “They aren’t thinking about this being applied physics or maths. They’re just doing it, having fun with it.” Ms Borthwick and Freyberg’s head of computing Michael Herring are introducing robotics as a year 9 option next year. They’ll get the students to work in groups, round a class set of basic model robots, giving them a taste of what they can achieve, applying hard sciences. “There’s a drive worldwide to attract and keep students into the sciences, technology and maths. I think robotics is one way to bring some excitement back to those subjects,” Ms Borthwick says. Boys’ High physics, electronics and science teacher David Clark would like to see robotics introduced from years 11 to 13, to give students a learning pathway.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/features/4276474/Futuristic-learning-for-schools

by Ann Warren, Post-Chronicle

Students in Mississinawa Valley Schools, Ohio will not be getting the free snow day off anymore. In a experiment, the school district wants kids to get on computers and do online learning. According to the AP, “With the Ohio Department of Education looking on, the Mississinawa Valley Schools in Darke County will try to replace days off for snow and other inclement weather with online learning.”

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212329779.shtml

by Angelica Mari, Computer Weekly

Following Computer Weekly’s article about the two IT trainees facing unemployment as the Department for Work and Pensions pulls the plug on apprenticeship schemes, industry figureheads have voiced their opinions on talent management. Chief information officer at Channel 4 Kevin Gallagher agreed that the industry needs to do more to develop skills internally as expectations on corporate technology are much higher, so it is essential to bring in fresh ideas and experiences from as diverse a pool as possible. “At Channel 4 it’s recognised that only by recruiting and developing people from a broad range of backgrounds and at different stages of their careers, will we get the talent we need to be successful,” Gallagher told Computer Weekly.

http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2010/10/29/243610/We-must-do-more-to-develop-IT-talent-say-industry-figures.htm

By Andrea Newell, Triple Pundit

Userful, a Canadian-based computer company, can perform a magic trick. It can turn one computer into ten. This sleight-of-hand has brought computers to more than 300,000 schools in 100 countries around the world, where computer access was previously impossible due to price and a lack of skilled personnel to maintain the systems. Userful’s multiple-seat application is not only affordable, it doesn’t require a large IT staff to maintain. And the green icing on top of the cake (affordability) and its filling (simplicity)? Userful’s solution is also environmentally friendly, reducing carbon output and electronic waste, and cutting energy costs for machine power and cooling.

http://www.triplepundit.com/2010/10/29/userful-offers-affordable-green-computing-schools-worldwide/

by Lauren Salcedo, Mukilteo Beacon

The Mukilteo School District has been working hard to bring classrooms up to 21st century technology standards. Efforts include installing mounted digital projectors, document cameras and the increasingly popular ActivBoard systems. ActivBoards are interactive whiteboards resembling projected computer screens. The screen contains an electromagnetic grid, which allows instructors to teach lessons in which the student can actively participate.

http://www.mukilteobeacon.com/schools/features/article.exm/2010-10-27_teaching__learning_turns_interactive_in_high_tech_classrooms

by Norton

Americans feel their home computers are protected from viruses, malware and hackers but that confidence does not translate to their mobile devices with 87 percent of people surveyed reporting they feel safer going online with their PCs than with their phones, according to the 2010 National Cyber Security Alliance – Norton by Symantec Online Safety Study released today.

http://goo.gl/hBXmP

by Bill Graves, The Oregonian

The loops and curls of cursive handwriting have all but vanished from college essay exam blue books. On rare occasions when college students write by hand, nearly all of them use what educators call manuscript form, which is to say, they print. Cursive writing is endangered and may near extinction in another generation, educators say. With the rise of word processing, texting and twittering, young people have fewer needs to write by hand. Cursive is on its way to becoming an artifact for calligraphers.

http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2010/10/most_college_students_print_as.html

By Hilton Collins, Converge

Much fanfare has been made about the digital divide — the gap between those who have access to IT and those who have very little access or none at all. Researchers study this divide, often at the grade-school level, to see how technology — or a lack thereof — affects student performance. The focus often is on how broadband access and computers impact students’ work on campus, although recent research incorporates the digital divide’s impacts in students’ after-school and home lives. Surprisingly some researchers are finding that the digital divide’s impact at home may not be as great as is commonly assumed.

http://www.convergemag.com/classtech/Technology-Can-Be-a-Tool-for-Student-Success-and-a-Distraction-at-Home-.html

By PARMY OLSON, Forbes

Fraser Speirs is a busy man. Having convinced Cedars School of Excellence in Greenock, Scotland to buy more than 100 iPads and distribute them to all its students (age 5-17) earlier this year for class and homework, the private school’s head of IT is traveling around the United States to talk about his school’s experience with the Apple tablet. Having spoken at a conference at Virginia Tech, yesterday he was at a school in Savannah, Georgia that’s also “gone 1:1″ with the iPad, as he puts it. Later he’ll visit another in Lancaster, PA. He’s not trying to evangelize its use, he says, since there are plenty of schools interested in using the device a la Star Trek. This post is part of an ambitious project to crowd-source the January issue of Forbes Magazine. Click here to submit your own ideas for “Names You Need to Know in 2011.” The best will run in the magazine.

http://blogs.forbes.com/parmyolson/2010/10/29/names-you-need-to-know-in-2011-the-ipad-school/

By Kate Jelly, Daily News

UCSB faculty members held a forum yesterday to discuss the increasingly tenuous position of higher education. Following the success of last year’s “The Future of the University” series, the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center is hosting a new string of lectures on the UC Commission on the Future — which was created to address the University’s financial woes. Yesterday’s discussion detailed the advantages and disadvantages of online college courses, the higher education gap and omnipotent budgetary problems. Kim McShane-DeBacco, Instructional Development Consultant, said a blend of traditional and online teaching methods are needed in a college learning environment.

http://www.dailynexus.com/2010-10-29/center-scrutinizes-future-university/

By AMANDA CHRISTY BROWN AND HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO, New York Times

How has digital technology changed the way we read? How might e-books and book applications enhance our reading experiences? In this lesson, students consider the ways that new ways of reading have changed the nature of reading and design book apps for literature they have read in print. They then reflect on and compare the experiences of reading in print and in digital formats.

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/print-vs-digital-analyzing-and-designing-book-apps-for-works-of-literature/?src=twrhp

By Lindsay Holmes, Central Florida Future

In a wired society, almost every college campus uses an online component to manage classes and work. However, though the majority of students are logging onto systems like myUCF to submit an assignment, UCF junior digital media major Alanna Honigman is logging onto Facebook. “My French professor had us join a class Facebook group where we would create a photo album and upload pictures,” Honigman said. “Then we were also expected to comment on photos uploaded by other classmates by the end of the semester.” Honigman is not alone. She is just one of many students whose professors have chosen to join the social network in order to enhance classroom learning.

http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/classes-incorporate-varied-online-aspects-1.2379744

By JULIA WERDIGIER, New York Times

Once a week, year six pupils at Ashmount Primary School in North London settle in front of their computers, put on their headsets and get ready for their math class. A few minutes later, their teachers come online thousands of kilometers away in the Indian state of Punjab. Ashmount is one of three state schools in Britain that decided to outsource part of their teaching to India via the Internet. The service — the first of its kind in Europe — is offered by BrightSpark Education, a London-based company set up last year. BrightSpark employs and trains 100 teachers in India and puts them in touch with pupils in Britain through an interactive online tutoring program.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/technology/25iht-teach25.html?_r=1